Paul, Cruz join Gillibrand on military sex-assault bill

Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have joined an upstart effort to remove the chain of command from military sexual assault cases, POLITICO has learned.

The tea party favorites give the bill’s lead sponsor, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, critical conservative cover as she battles the Pentagon and hawks in both parties on her proposal to create a new prosecution system for major military crimes.

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Paul is scheduled to attend a press conference Tuesday in the Capitol with Gillibrand and other bill backers, including Sens. Chuck Grassley and Barbara Boxer, to discuss his new position, which inches the New York Democrat closer to the 51 votes she hopes is all she’ll need when her proposal comes up for debate as early as next week.

The issue of military sexual assault came under intense scrutiny this spring on Capitol Hill when top military commanders from each branch of the service sat before the Armed Services Committee and swore they’d stamp out sexual assault in the ranks – but stopped far short of supporting Gillibrand’s idea.

It seemed Gillibrand’s proposal was picking up momentum amid a series of high-profile incidents involving military officials and sexual misconduct grabbed headlines, but it failed in a committee vote in June that didn’t break along traditional party lines.

The Pentagon has kept up a fierce lobbying campaign behind the scenes, but Gillibrand and her supporters believe the measure can fare better on the full Senate floor with senators less tied to the military.

Gillibrand already has 32 cosponsors and the addition of Paul and Cruz provides a powerful political message as she continues to lobby for more votes in face-to-face meetings on the Senate floor.

“Sen. Paul believes that the vast majority of our service members are honorable and upstanding individuals,” said Paul spokesman Moira Bagley said in an email. “In the instance when one is accused of a serious crime, especially one of harassment or assault, the allegation needs to be taken seriously and conflicts of interest should not impact whether a crime is prosecuted properly.”

Paul has been a critic of the Pentagon on other issues, too. The Kentucky Republican has called for an audit of military spending and he waded into defense issues in March with a 13-hour filibuster questioning the danger of drone strikes to U.S. citizens on American soil.

Cruz on Tuesday will also go a step beyond an initial committee vote, pointing to America’s allies to explain his position.

“Several of our strongest allies such as Israel, the United Kingdom, and Germany have made similar reforms to their military justice systems, and seen marked improvement,” Cruz said in the statement. He also commended Gillibrand for her efforts to “modernize” the forces.

Still, advocates believe the new supporters could boost the vote count.

“The senator being fully on board kind of opens up possibilities,” said a Senate Democratic aide working on defense issues. “It doesn’t split along partisan ideology lines. It’s about folks who want to take on the status quo….It can shake up the equation.”

Paul isn’t the first Republican to link up with Gillibrand. Sens. Susan Collins, Mike Johanns, Lisa Murkowski and Grassley were there at the early stages. Sens. Ted Cruz and David Vitter both voted for her proposal during the committee markup last month.

In prepared remarks Gillibrand is scheduled to give at Tuesday’s press conference, the New York Democrat will highlight the “strong and growing bipartisan coalition” to remove the command chain from prosecutions involving military crimes punishable by more than one year of confinement.

“Our carefully crafted common sense proposal written in direct response to the experiences of those who have gone through a system rife with bias and conflict of interest is not a Democratic or Republican idea – it is just the right idea,” Gillibrand will say, according to her remarks.

Democratic leaders have yet to schedule the defense authorization bill, or any amendments to it, including Gillibrand’s proposal, but senior aides say the legislation remains a possible contender for floor debate in the final two weeks before the August recess.

Senior military brass, including Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey and the service branch heads, oppose Gillibrand’s proposal, arguing that it would disrupt the Pentagon’s core command structure and its unique judicial system. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin and ranking member Jim Inhofe have also defended the military against Gillibrand’s bid to remove the chain of command.

During last month’s committee markup, Levin offered an alternative proposal to address sexual assault in the military that stripped commanders of the ability to overturn jury verdicts and a provision making retaliation against sexual assault victims a crime.